Cherry Blossom, Girls Gone Sporty and SweatPink!

Hey, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday, I posted a round-up of 20 Super Bowl Sunday Recipes that you should definitely check out! I know that it’s going to be a great game, but I cannot wait until football season is finally over!

Cherry Blossom Training Begins!

The time has finally come..today is my first day of training for the Cherry Blossom Run in Washington, DC! I am scheduled to run 2 miles at an 11:30 pace. Since a so-called snow storm is making its way up the East coast, I’ll have to take this run indoors on the treadmill at work…but I’m okay with that!

The Cherry Blossom Run is on Sunday, April 12 in Washington DC, so I’ll have about 11 weeks of training. I’ll be running 4 days a week, with a great variety of runs:

Easy run,

Easy run with strides,

Hill repeats,

Long, slow, distance run

I’m so excited to take on this training plan, so look out for my Monday posts when I’ll be giving a weekly recap on my training and a grade on how each week went. Since I’m training in the winter, I’m a little nervous that the weather will throw off my schedule, but thankfully I have access to a treadmill at work, just in case!

I’ll also still be doing all of my cross training: Boot camp, Cardio Kickboxing (though I will probably keep the intensity low), Nike Training, and squeezing in yoga. Needless to say, I’ll be working out a LOT! I’ll have to keep an eye on my nutrition as well since I’ll probably be hungry all the time. I’m already telling myself to say goodbye to Twizzlers and all the other sweets I’ve been craving lately! Wish me luck!

I’m a Girls Gone Sporty AND Sweat Pink Ambassador!

Last week was VERY exciting because I found out that I was accepted into two amazing ambassador programs: Girls Gone Sporty and Sweat Pink! In my New Year’s Resolutions post, I alluded to desiring to join a network or two, and these were it! Coincidentally, I found out that I got into both just days apart, and I’m so excited!

Girls Gone Sporty

What is Girls Gone Sporty? Here’s a short explanation from their website:

Our Ambassadors form a network of sporty women who band together to focus on positive health. Studies have shown that: 1) healthy living is contagious, and 2) healthy living is not just about weight loss. While we recognize that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is important, weight and appearance are not cornerstones of our belief system, and we want to encourage women everywhere to embrace whole health and an attitude of adventure – body, mind, spirit and lifestyle – right where they are now.

I’m super excited to be a part of Girls Gone Sporty! Over the past few years, I’ve fully realized how important it is for me to be truly healthy, and through this blog I hope to inspire others to do the same! It’s not as hard as you may think, but it takes a true commitment…it’s a lifelong process! I look forward to learning from, connecting with, and growing through this group

#SweatPink

And what about #SweatPink? Here’s an explanation of what it means to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador, from the website:

We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick.

Awesome, right? I’m so excited to be a part of this sisterhood and I look forward to getting to know other health and fitness enthusiasts through this network! And as always, I’ll share what I learn with all of you!